The Dallas Theater Center has just finished its first five
years with the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre as its primary
home, and the news is all good. Tickets sold are up 20%,
revenue up 40%, the annual fund has doubled, and the donor
base has grown hugely as well. “The number of people who
are supporting us has increased dramatically,” adds DTC
Managing Director Heather Kitchen. “It’s probably the
most dramatic of the increases.” Artistic Director Kevin
Moriarty has been at the helm of Dallas Theater Center now
for just over seven years, and much of the institution’s sea
change, artistically and financially, is directly attributable to
his talents and vision.

“I don’t have one word that I can use to sum Kevin up,”Kitchen continues. “He’s an extraordinary person, but thebest part of him is that he’s extraordinarily good at a lot ofthings, and at the same time he’s a very caring person. He’sa tremendous storyteller, and that was the first thing thatattracted me to him—his ability to tell stories and put themonstage. In our profession we need to have fun, becausewe’re working like crazy and putting in a lot of hours, soyou have to have joy and fun. Kevin exudes that—he is fun,he is joyful, and he loves theater. And he’s an incrediblycollaborative person, and community-minded; his goalis that everybody should be able to use theater to helpunderstand themselves a little bit better. Kevin’s justterrific at what he does.”DTC strives for inclusiveness, with programs like“Pay-What-You-Can” performances and single-ticketprices as low as $18. The recently launched NeighborhoodInitiative in South Oak Cliff is a new outreach, designedto engage audiences from that underserved neighborhoodwith free acting workshops at the Beckley-SanerRecreation Center, forums aimed at senior citizens andhigh school students, and discounted tickets at DTC; theinitiative is part of Mayor Mike Rawlings’ GrowSoutheconomic development plan. Another outreach of sortsis local premieres that make their way to New York,on or off-Broadway: the musicals Lysistrata Jones, Giant,and The Fortress of Solitude all originated at DTC. “I feelreally proud of our work because I believe so deeplyand personally in the transformative power of theater,”Kitchen concludes. “I’m so thrilled.”